Will Davis - Copyright 2010. Nuclear energy news, insight and analysis. Coverage of events world wide, including new plant construction, operation of plants now in service, and shutdown and decommissioning of plants. APR emphasizes the technology of nuclear energy, as well as the history of the development of that technology. Your #1 nuclear energy source!

APR: your source for nuclear news and analysis since April 16, 2010

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Vermont Yankee tritium, Vermont legislature ignorance

Entergy has revealed that the tritium leak to groundwater was due to a very likely unforseeable combination of circumstances, related both to underground pipe corrosion and inaccessibility for inspection and also related to how later, supposedly non-interfering construction on-site can affect already built piping systems. Suffice it to say that this writer doesn't think that Entergy or anyone involved was evasive about this- they didn't originally understand the problem. It's been given a workaround and tritium deposition to groundwater cut.

Unfortunately, in Vermont the state legislature has say over nuclear plant operation and licensing and voted overwhelmingly against extending Vermont Yankee's operation beyond the previously scheduled March of next year. According to World Nuclear News, Vermont Yankee provides one third of Vermont's power... but the lawmakers think that energy will be more expensive WITH the plant than without, which of course means they'd rather pay someone else's rates sharing load or else bet on new fossil plants. Brilliant. Vermont- vote them out!